Tongueless key-opening sardine-can.



.No. 834,178. PA'EENTED 001'. 2 3, 1906.

- H. BQWILLIAMS. TONGUELESS KEY OPENING SAARDINE CAN.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8. 1901! specification.

conveniently opened with certainty andsT TEs oFFIon. V

' HARRY B. WILLIAMS, ojF NEWYoR N. ASSIGNOR TOAMERIOAN? CAN OMPA Y; OF NEW T'YORK,IN.'.Y.',' ACORPQRATION on. NEW

" JERSEY.-

Beit known that I, HARRY "B[WrLLIiuus,la citizen. of the United States, residing in N ew,

'York, in thecounty of New York and State of NewYork, have invented a new'and useful Improvement in .To lgueless Key-Opening Sardine-Qang of .whic the following is a My 'nventionrelates to improvements in;

key-opening cans, and moreparticularly to .fnnprovements inkeyopening cans having ton eless-tearing strips. 4 e object of my invention is to provide a;

Qtonguelesstearing stri key. opening 'sar-f dine-can of asirnple, e cient, and econom 1021 construction adapted to be easily and without danger of' failure in its countersunk [top or-cover y a neat smooth opening there-. in large enough to ,permit the ready removal of the sardines .whole .or without vmutilationj and in a neat and cleanly mannerwithout danger of sp' g any of--the oil or liquidcon-i tents'o'fthe can 5 My invention I ploy-to practically accomplish fthis object or result that isto say, it consists a sardinecan of the customaryrectangular form and I having av countersunk, or "depressed-sheet-j of which thes'c'ore's 'orfweakened hnes are; s p" b n Pro i ed,

formed, the te'ar'jn I witlfi a transverse e tending across it, pre 45 metal top or""cover' whichiis provided with" an oval or elliptical-Endless; and tongueless" tearing-strip marked ofi or bounded by par-j allel scores or: weakened lines, the t'eanng strip having a central orlongitub'dlnal raised rib extending. between its parallelicores on weakened" line'sjand'the canato fhav ng a.

'raised central pgirtion surrounde by, the

ner'score or weakened line of the .liQal'lp w strip, and thus" form'ing two. parallel wl e'. grooves having tapering sides, 1n' the bottom the cantop beingalso provided .at one'fflon closely adjacent to one specification of Letters Patent. hpplicatipnfiledhugust@1904. SerialNo. 219,863. r

I strip and. atthe siiipplernental groove or consists in the means I eIn- TQN-QUELESS KEY-OPENI s hDlN'E-EAN.

' Patented Oct. 28,1906.-

pression at the en of the transverse. oove, and thus: form a: free-portion to rece ve the longitudinal slit or slot of the sharp-edged or .pointed key, which is usedfor openin the can. My invention alsoconsists inft e novel construction of parts and'de'vices and in the novel combinations of parts and devices herein shown and described. p 'In the accompan g.drawings,forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a per- Iny invention. Fig. 2 is a plan 'view. Fig. 3

pointed or sharpedged key has been inserted at the depressions or groovespreparato to winding the tearing-strip, about the ey. Fig. A shows the key in position ,for'stbitihg the winding. Fig. 5'-sh'ows the can open. Fig. 6 shows the can after it fullyopened, Fig. 7 isz'a'detail view; of" the k y ig. 8-.is across-section on line 8816f Fig 2 Fig. 9, a sectionon-lineQ 9, of Fig.2,

and-Fig. 10 is a section online 10' 10 of'Fig. 2.

B, wh1ch c10ses the can after it is filled and which is preferably hermetically secured to out sol erafterthe can isfilled with sardines or other products. [The can top or cover B pressed below its rim-B2.

1 The top o' cover tral o'r countersunk 11portion B, marked as er; bounded by. para h p .wh rem fa amip B3 m the can-top teams threean'd one-ha through; h s w n sardi e? 'btl articles containe in thecaninay be readily rnoved 'whole and without ngutilatien The; tearing-strip. ';b, "has a ifcentral: longitud nal raised 'ribor'ridge 11. extending between "the inches in itsfl on gelj dii J etenby-twoand one. half. inchesin its shorter d1ameter,, so that spective view of asardine-can embodying ,is a plan viewshowing the can after. the

. 7 partiallyv as been the drawin s, fA' represents'a'key-open ing' sardine-can aving a bod a '01: the cus-f tomary'rectangularshape an a top orcover the body c by a double "s ea'm a the seaming-flanges oflthe bo'd'y and coverwithhas it'scentral' part B "countersunkor-j def 1;,5fm tastas sasagfi, less .and tongueless tearing-strip b in its 'cn-f ,9 elr s e w ak nedlines 11' Q'lhe endless'and'tongue'less tearingstrip I) j isapr'eferably' .of an oval' or elliptieal.

'rere s e 2w ifie sibia dft rfi e en c nneet ewlth ewed. en e 12?; a

in the can-top by p wide groove 6 having flaring sides 6 in the bottom or apex of which groove the inner score or weakened line bvis formed. The outer score or weakened line b is also at the bottom or apex of a similar wide or flaring groove b inthe can-top. Extending-transversely across the tearing-strip, and preferably at an inclination or angle, is a transverse groove if, having flaring sides b 12 the apex or angle b of which transverse groove may also have a score or weakened line b to further accentuate the weakness of the tearing-strip at this transverse groove, through which the pointed or sharp-edged key D is to beinserted. The can top is further provided at one or both ends of the transversely-extending key-insertion groove 1), preferably at both ends thereof, with a sup lemental key-insertion groove 6 at the edge of the tearing-strip and extending parallel thereto to guide the pointed or sharp-edged key in inserting the same through the can-top.

D represents the sharp or pointed key employed in opening my improved can, the same having a sharp and preferably inclined cutting edge (1, point d, and a narrow longitudinal slot 11 to receive the free portion of the tearing-strip after the slots 12 b have beenformed in the can-top at the key-insertion grooves b and b. The longitudinal slotd in the 'key divides its cutting edge (1 into two arts separated by this narrow slot; but t 's does not interfere with the production of a continuous slot in the can-top when the key is inserted, as the gap in the cutting edge at the slot d is or may be so narrow or small as to carry the intervening stock of the sheet metal with, the cutting edge of the key. The narrow longitudinal slot d in the key gives the key two forks (i so that after the o enings b b are formed Facin the forks of the ke astride the free portion% of the tearing-strip the tearing-strip may be wound around the key and the can opened.

In operation the key D, which is made of steel wire and has a broad integral handleloop D, is pushed through the can-top at the transverse and lon 'tudinal ke -insertion ooves therein, an then the f erks of the ey are placed astride the free portion 1; of the tearing-strip and the tearing-strip wound around the key, thus removing the same and formin a large, smooth, even, elliptical opening B 1n the can-top, so that the sardines in the can may be readily removed whole. As the cover iscountersunk or dish-shaped, its rim projecting above the opening B in the can-top renders it impossible for any of the oil or other liquid contents to spill or become smeared over the can. The central longitudinal rib on the upper side of the tearingstrip gives it a wide groove form on its under side, and this, in connection with the parallel wide grooves at the apexes or bottorr s of which the .scores or weakened lines are formed, not only stiffens the tearing-strip and causes it to separate or tear with greater ease and certainty along its parallel scores or weakened lines, but also causes the coil of the same around the key to form with a central hollow or groove on its periphery, which tends to guide the strip and cause it to wind or coil truly about the key, thus also adding to the ease and certainty of opening the can.

While my invention is specially intended and adapted for use upon sardine-cans, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that it may be used on other sheet-metal cans and that the tearing-strip may be located on other portions of the can than the topas, for exam Ie, the bottom or the body-and some 0 the results and advantages of my invention secured.

I claim 1. A tongueless-tearing-strip key-opening sardine-can having a countersunk top or cover provided with an endless and tongueless longitudinally-ridged tearing-strip having parallel scores or weakened lines at its edges, the ridge of the tearing-strip being external and stiffening the metal adjacent to said weakened lines to facilitate the tearing, and a transversely-extending key insertion groove, said tearing-strip being outwardly curved or arched in cross-section substantially as specified.

2. A tongueless-tearing-strip key-opening sardine-can having a countersunk top or cover provided with an endless and tongueless longitudinally-ridged tearing-strip having parallel scores or weakened lines at its edges, the ridge of the tearing-strip being external and stiffening the metal adjacent to said weakened lines to facilitate the tearing, a transversely-extending key-insertion groove, and a supplemental key-insertion groove at the edge of the tearing-strip adjacent to said transverse key-insertion groove, said tearing-strip being outwardly curved or Erahed in cross-section substantially as speci- 3. A tongueless-tearing-strip key-opening sardine-can, having a countersunk top or cover provided with an endless and tongueless tearin strip, and parallel external grooves at t e edges of the tearingstrip, parallel scores or weakened lines in said rooves, the intermediate ridge formed by sai groove stiffening the metal adjacent to the weakened lines to-facilitate the tearing, saidv can-top having a key-insertion groove extendi across the tearing-strip, and sup lementa key-insertion grooves one at eac edge of the tearing-strip and adjacent to said transverse key-insertion groove, substantially as specified. Y

4. A can having an endless weakened line and an endless, tong-unless longitudinally ridged tearing portion adjacent to said endlessweakened line and serving to stifien the material adjacent to the weakened line and to facilitate the insertion of the point of a tool or key, said longitudinally-ridged tearing portion being outwardly curved or arched, substantially as specified.

5. A can having an endless weakened line and an endless tongueless longitudinall ridged tearin portion adjacent to said wea ened line an serving to stiffen the material adjacent to the weakened line and facilitate gitudinally-ridged tearing portion being outwardly curved or arched in cross-section, sub- I 5 stantially as specified.

- HARRY B. WILLIAMS.-

Witnesses:

F. BENOIT, t Z. L. BROWN. 

